Chapter 149: Letters

Words : 1708 Updated : Oct 2nd, 2025

Chapter 149: Letters Abigail sat at her desk, staring at the stacks of papers in front of her. Her desk looked like someone had dumped a month’s worth of backlog on it. Neatly stacked in three columns. She couldn’t believe it was her first day of work and already she had so much work to be done. What had Genevieve been doing all this time? Did she deliberately leave all these paper work for her? Abigail wondered as she began to sort through the documents, her eyes scanning the headings and subheadings. There were Bill of Materials forms, detailing the components and quantities needed for production. Product Requirements Documents outlined the features and specifications of the hardware products. Manufacturing Build Packages contained detailed records for procurement, production, and delivery. If she was doing all this paper work, what was the rest people in the company doing? It was going to be a long day, Abigail thought as she took a deep breath. Well, at least there’s no shortage of work. And if she was going to take over this company, she needed to familiarize herself with all of these things, she reminded herself. She decided to first respond to Jamal’s letter before focusing on anything else. She thought about her response for a while before writing it out. Once she was done, she folded it and set it aside before pulling the first file toward her. Abigail squared her shoulders and rolled up the sleeves of her blazer as she opened the file in front of her and focused on it. After going through the first couple of pages, she aced the letter inside the file for Jamal. As she worked her way through the papers, she soon became engrossed with it, since she loved dealing with numbers, and there were lots of numbers on some of them. Abigail worked with quiet focus, her pen scratching across pages, her eyes scanning data rows and technical notes. She checked numbers against machine serials, ticked boxes, scribbled short notes in the margins, and typed out a few memos on her system. Time passed quickly, so much so she barely noticed when it was almost noon. Just then, a knock sounded on her door before it opened, and Jamal walked in with another bundle of documents. She blinked, stunned. "Sorry to disturb you, Ms. Abigail," he said softly as he set the files down on a clear corner of her desk. "More from the procurement department." Abigail gave him a mildly exasperated look as she rolled her shoulders. Jamal watched her and then he tilted his head toward the growing mountain of paperwork. "Do you need me to help? I don’t have much work on my desk right now and Ms Genevieve is not on seat. I could..." Abigail shook her head and signed, [No. Thanks. I’ve got it.] Jamal nodded, and then leaned slightly closer, "The third folder needs urgent attention," he said, giving her a small, knowing smile. Curious, Abigail opened the third folder. Inside, beneath a set of machinery specification sheets, was a small note folded in half. Without raising it from the folder, she opened it. In Jamal’s slanted handwriting, it read: [Have I told you that you look very beautiful today? You look even more beautiful today than you did yesterday and the day before the day before.... All the days before. By the way, don’t bother stepping out for lunch or worrying about it. You’d receive a delivery soon from your secret admirer. You’ve got enough to handle on this desk already, so let me handle what I can. And don’t worry, I made the order anonymously.] Abigail’s heart warmed, and her face lit up with a smile that shone in her eyes as she looked up at him with a soft gaze. "Your signature is needed on it, ma’am," he said politely. Abigail smiled as she picked up her pen and scribbled on it, then handed it to Jamal. Jamal looked at what she wrote, [Check the machinery upgrade request folder.] She cleared her throat as she passed him a few of the documents she’d already reviewed and signed. Jamal’s lips twitched into a grin as he took the folders from her. He gave a slight, mock bow. "I’ll be back later, Ms. Abigail." She waved him off without looking up, but he could see the smile still playing on her lips. He stepped out of her office and shut the door gently behind him. As soon as the door clicked shut behind Jamal, Abigail’s phone rang. She raised a brow when she saw the call was from Ryan. She received the call and brought it to her ear. "Come to my office for a minute," he said before hanging up the call. What did Ryan want to talk to her about? She wondered as she stood up. She smoothed her dress and took a deep breath before making her way to his office. The moment she got to the lobby of his office, his secretary, who was familiar with her, let her in. "Abi," Ryan called with a pleased smile as he gestured her to come in. As she walked in, Ryan reached into his drawer and took out a new phone. "Here. I thought you were due for a new phone. Let me have your old phone," he said, and Abigail’s brows pulled together. [I don’t need a new phone.] she signed. "Yes, you do. Here. Let me have that," he said, and Abigail hesitated. Although she didn’t have anything to hide since she had cleared all her messages and had even reached out to Dr Diana to not send her any messages or reach out to her unless she did, she still did not like the idea of just handing him her phone. She knew without a doubt that the new phone was most likely bugged. Reluctantly, Abigail handed him her phone, and then she took the new phone from him. "Good girl. You should understand that I’m only looking out for you and trying to do what’s best for you," he said, and Abigail tried not to let her disdain show on her face. "I wish you could speak," he said, watching her with a smile. "I’d like to hear your voice. You know what? I think it’s time you start receiving therapy again. I’ll also get you a speech therapist this time," he said, and Abigail clenched her jaw. [Thank you. If that’s all, I’ll be returning to the office. There’s a lot of files on my desk that I need to attend to.] "Sure. You can go," Ryan said, and she turned to leave. Just as she got to the and touched the knob, he stopped her again. "Abi?" She turned to look at him. "Lately you’re being too stubborn and bold. Try not to get on my nerves too much, else I might be tempted to marry you off soon. I’m already thinking of possible candidates." Abigail’s heart skipped a beat at that but she merely smiled and gave him a nod before walking out of the office. He could try. Away from there on Jamal’s desk, he opened the letter Abigail had left him, and he smiled when he saw her pretty handwriting. [To the King of my heart, I’m not sure where to begin. I read your letter once... then twice... and then a third time, just to make sure I had it all memorized. You won’t believe I can recite every word on it. I loved every word on it. My cheeks are still warm, and I’m doing my best to hold back this silly smile that doesn’t want to leave my face. You say your brain stops working when I look at you, but if you could see what you do to me with your words... how you turn my heart into jelly and my thoughts into butterflies— you’d know we’re even. Sunshine? Me? I think you’re the one who showed up when everything felt dull and uncertain, and you brought so much color and meaning into my life. You say you don’t need sugar in your coffee when I’m around— but I don’t even need coffee when I’m around you. You make me feel alive. I’m sorry about yesterday. I’m sorry I overreacted and gave you the impression that I do not trust you. I do trust you. I do not want my distrust or resentment towards her to get the best of me or us. I don’t want to ever fight with you. I only want to love you and always show you how happy I am to have you in my life, and how I’m grateful for your love. I love you. I love you so very much. So, I’ll have to trust your decision. If you want to be close to her, I’ll try not to complain or feel too jealous. But make sure you do not teach her any cuss words in case I need to badmouth her in her presence while signing with you. And yes, you’re my boyfriend. I can’t wait to be able to go on dates with you and have lots of fun just the both of us. I feel giddy just thinking about all the things I’d love to do with you. Our first date should be to a cinema at night. I’d love to see a movie with you. We’d hold hands all through, only letting go to stuff our mouths with popcorn, and then after the movies we’d go to somewhere we can lay down to look up at the stars. Now, about my favorite things. Favorite color? It used to be lavender, but now I think it’s gold, just like your heart. Favorite sound? As of today it’s the rustle of your letter when I opened it, so you better send me more. Favorite feeling? The warmth I get reading, "I love you," from you. I love you. Yours, shyly but surely, Your (new) girlfriend PS: I thought you were a my guardian angel when I couldn’t find you after a long time, but now I know you are. I love you for real. Lots of love and kisses.

Chapter 149: Letters

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